Analysis of Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart'

According to Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian writer who believes in the power of story, if one traps oneself into the narrow world of “single story” about another person or country, that person would risk a crucial misconception. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is considered as the most authentic response to contemporary Western’s literature depiction of Africa, which usually obligates the readers to only look at the “single story” that is written with personal stereotypes under an ethnocentric point of view. As a result, in his famous Things Fall Apart, Achebe contrasts the perspective of the colonized on imperialism with that of the colonizing in order to provide an alternative to the Western literature’s “single story” of Africa.

“Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart” (124).

Things Fall Apart is a literary novel written and published by Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, or Chinua Achebe, in the 1959. Chinua was born on November 16, 1930 into a Nigerian village named Ogidi. Things Fall Apart is based in Nigeria around the year 1890. The book addresses topics including, “Nigeria’s white colonial government and the traditional culture of the indigenous Igbo people” (SparkNotes Editors). The book also contains several controversial topics involving, Christian missionaries being labeled, “foolish”, the subject matter of death and suicide, and the physical and verbal abuse that the women received. Chinua well portrays the “macho” and chiefly attitude of the African men in the Ibo society. But the question is, how exactly are women treated within the society? The well respected Okonkwo is a prime example on exactly how men treated women during this time period.

The novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, is a tale based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village during late 1800’s Africa. Through the telling of this story, we witness the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion, politics, judiciary and entertainment.

During the 19th century, European colonization and imperialism swept the face of African societies. The voices of these entrapped societies were highly suppressed throughout the time period resulting in a narrow westernized perspective of the event. However, this changed when Chinua Achebe-- the first African to have a novel published-- created his masterpiece Things Fall Apart. Through this spectacular novel, Achebe depicts the clash of cultures between the British colonists and the Igbo tribe as well as the mixed emotions in regards to western influence among tribal members through the lenses of Okonkwo and his son Nwoye. Through the cultural interactions between the British and the Igbo people, Achebe is able to artfully and elaborately

Growing up in an environment where one’s parents and society restrict the behavior of that individual, can be a very challenging situation to be in. This was so for Nwoye. Raised in the Igbo culture, social order was said to demand conformity. It was a culture where he was forced to act a certain way, or be punished by his father Okonkwo, which wasn’t a type of lifestyle Nwoye would want to be living all his life. The book, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe uses Nwoye to exemplify the outcomes in a relationship, of a father forcing masculine and cultural tradition values his son, Nwoye. Although, Nwoye’s curiosity on the Igbo culture and will to become the person that he wants to be, comes before him even if it calls for going against

Everyone on Earth is rooted in their culture. It shapes human being from the moment they are born to the moment they die. So, when a character leaves their culture things can start to go wrong, as perfectly portrayed in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It shows a culture and family falling apart, because of several groups of converts and one convert: Nwoye. Family members betraying each other to find their own sense of identity can coincide with the downfall of society.

Abraham Lincoln once said “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart she tells a story about a culture deeply rooted in tradition that’s facing the prospect of change. The story gives the reader an insight on the reality of change and it effects on the characters. The aggravated circumstances of whether or not change should have advantage over tradition oftentimes involves questions of both societal and personal status and reputation. An example being the protagonist, Okonkwo, who opposed the incoming political and religious changes, for the idea that such practices are “unmanly” and in turn he would eventually be seen as weak and

Between the 1870’s and 1900’s Africa faced European imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and eventually the conquest and colonization of Africa. These actions destroyed their culture,heritage and uniqueness as a country.In Things Fall Apart, Achebe incorporates elements of greek tragedy, including the tragic hero of Okonkwo, to illustrate the tragic nature of the British colonization of Africa.

Another form of political resistance is through the characters in Achebe’s Things fall Apart. The character’s use their bodies and morals to rise against oppression. What the characters do is isolate difference or let, “Umuofia…decided to kill him… [in fear] of being thought weak” (Achebe, 1986, pp. 40-43). Through the physical act of death the end is inevitable and while the Africans decide to act upon it, the colonization is what refrains the movement of the town. There is a clash of cultural conflict because of the way societies deal with political situations. Resulting in separation in Okonkwo’s morals, especially when, “All was silent… Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and a piece pf iron… [In] the…heart… [Forced] to flee.” (Achebe, 1986,

Many of the spiritual systems that are practiced by African cultures, whether the culture is native or mainstream, are mostly organized. They all have a certain degree of the priest class, libation, holidays, creation stories, divine systems of punishments and rewards. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a story of tragic fall of a protagonist and the Igbo culture. Achebe demonstrates different examples and situations of where an African culture, in the instances of tribal religions, did certain things because of their tradition is and the way they developed into. African cultures pondered life mysteries and articulated their religions in terms of the implications of these mysteries through their farming, entertainment, and daily subsistence by Achebe using cultural traditional and language in an unbiased way to send a message to Western Colonial nations that African nations have a strong culture and language that is unique to these nations. Farming, hunting, and daily substances are what make African cultures distinct from one another. Every African tribe has different methods, techniques and reasoning are for the way they do stuff. Their everyday life, farming, and entertainment can be compared and contrast through their similarities and differences. Achebe helps demonstrates how the Ibo tribe pondered these life mysteries by showing different examples of what it meant to farm, hunt, and their every day-to-day life pattern and what they believed

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the reader is taken on a journey to a Nigerian tribe, Umuofia, to experience first-hand the struggles of a warrior named Okonkwo. Okonkwo showed that he had so much to live for, but as seen through the story, that quickly changed. Okonkwo was not any old village boy, he didn’t inherit a farm, nor was he from a wealthy family. Okonkwo disliked his father because he never paid his debts and was always looking to borrow money from others in the village. This left Okonkwo in a tough situation. The clash of cultures is one of the most important themes seen in book. After the Christian missionaries arrived in Umuofia, they immediately begin to alter the locals, which was ultimately the

Novels are an invitation into a distant world that mirrors aspects of modern culture and often shares the same underlying issues in current society. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe provides a unique perspective of western imperialism from an African’s view. The novel allows readers to delve into the sophisticated culture of the Igbo people and their complex social structure. Through Okonkwo, one of the former leaders of the tribe, Achebe conveys the violent clash of cultures and the disintegration of traditional Igbo beliefs instigated by British colonization. In spite of its historical setting, Achebe manages to effectively establish connections in his novel with issues relevant in today’s world.

"Things Fall Apart" is a novel by Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, a Nigerian author, critic, novelist, professor and writer. He was born in November 16th 1930 and died on March 21st 2013. The novel was set in the 80 's. Things Fall Apart is generally seen as Achebe 's way of taking back Africa from Joseph Conrad and Heart of Darkness.More than that, it 's Achebe 's way of talking back to Conrad about Africa.The novel focuses on the Igbo people in the years leading up to the arrival of the first Christian missionaries and it follows Okonkwo, a respected member of the tribe, as he builds up his reputation; knocks it down again with some unintentional murders; loves, raises, and kills an adoptive son; and is exiled for killing a different boy.Basically, we get to see the ins and outs of pre-colonized Africa and get a hint of what 's to come when the missionaries show up.So here 's Achebe 's quandary: how does he remain a hardcore critic of a colonial regime that imposes its language on a native population when he himself writes (and writes so well) in English—the tongue of the colonizer? These days, most scholars read Achebe 's quandary as what it is: a problem that greets most postcolonial writers who have no real choice but to write in the dominant or hegemonic language since that 's what they were taught. And, for the most part, postcolonial scholars do get that Achebe tries something different with language in his novel. The way he incorporates the language of the Igbo

How does the implementation of the British legal and educational system affect the social structure (the role of elders and the political processes) of Umuofia and other Igbo villages? How does